Draft:Second Panjshir Offensive
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| Second Panjshir offensive | |||||||||
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| Part of the Soviet–Afghan War | |||||||||
.jpg) Map of the Panjshir Valley | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Soviet Union Democratic Republic of Afghanistan | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown but Outnumbered | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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500 killed (Mujahideen claim) 200 killed and wounded (Soviet claim) |
25 killed (Mujahideen claim) 200 killed and wounded (Soviet claim) | ||||||||
The Second Panjshir Offensive, Also known as Panjshir II, was an operation initiated by Soviet and socialist afghan troops on August 28, 1980, to free the Rokha fort held by afghan socialists which was constantly attacked By Ahmad Shah Massouds Mujahideen.[1] This offensive lasted 21 days.
Battle
[edit]To liberate Rokha, Soviet and Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) forces, consisting of 700 vehicles, supported by dozens of helicopters, launched an assault on the Panjshir Valley. Ahmad Shah Massoud’s Mujahideen, led by commanders Abdol-Wâsé, Abdol-Azīm, Dâdollâh, and Sufi Mohammad Sa'id Khan, launched a counterattack on the Rokha garrison, which ultimately forced a Soviet withdrawal. The Mujahideen reported losing 25 of their men but claimed enemy casualties amounted to 500, based on clandestine intelligence provided by sympathizers within the Afghan communist general staff in Kabul.[2] Soviet estimates, however, placed the losses for both sides at around 200 dead and wounded.[3]
Results
[edit]Despite superior firepower, Soviet forces could not dislodge the Mujahideen, who used their knowledge of the terrain to defend effectively. By holding the valley and inflicting significant casualties, Massoud’s fighters succeeded by preventing a Soviet triumph. The failure to secure Rokha highlighted the Soviet inability to achieve lasting success, solidifying the Mujahideen's hold on the region.[2][4][5]
Aftermath
[edit]After the Second Panjshir Offensive, Ahmad Shah Massoud successfully seized the Rokha fortress, the final stronghold of the Kabul regime in the valley. The Mujahideen, now equipped with newly captured heavy artillery, positioned their weapons on the surrounding peaks, which allowed them to bombard the fortress, causing an additional 427 casualties. On November 8, a government reinforcement convoy of approximately 50 Soviet armored vehicles arrived to support the garrison. However, the Mujahideen quickly countered, destroying four trailing trucks with rocket launchers, followed by two armored vehicles and 13 additional trucks. On November 14, Soviet and Afghan government forces mounted an attempt to retake the fort. During the exchange, Mujahideen commander Abdol-Wâsé was killed, while Soviet forces indiscriminately bombarded nearby villages. Despite this assault, Massoud's fighters regained full control of the fortress, once again leaving the Soviets and their Afghan allies in defeat.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ Barry, Michael (2002). Massoud: de l'islamisme à la liberté [Massoud's mujahedeen, always in order to pursue the enemy when he fled, resumed their spot fire around the Rokha fort to irritate the Afghan communist garrison and shoot down any imprudent person who showed his head at the battlements. To free Rokha, a second offensive, with seven hundred vehicles under dozens of helicopters (while Afghan troops preceded the Russians to receive the first fire), struck the Valley from August 28, 1981.] (in French). L. Audibert. p. 182. ISBN 978-2-84749-002-2.
- ^ a b Barry, Michael (2002). Massoud: de l'islamisme à la liberté [Dans le dos des Russes, les hommes de Massoud, menés par 'Abd-ol-Wasé', 'Abd-ol-'Azīm, Dâdollâh et Soûfi Mohammad Sa'id Khân, ouvrirent le feu, depuis les hau-teurs, sur la garnison de Rokha, tandis que les mines posées autour de Bâzârak coûtèrent aux Soviétiques, contraints au retrait pour sauver leur fortin à l'embouchure du Val, une quarantaine de chars et une trentaine de camions, sous une pluie de tirs et même d'avalanches de pierres durant les vingt et un jours que dura cette seconde offensive. Les modjahedîn avoueront vingt-cinq morts dans leurs rangs. Mais le secrétaire et chroniqueur de Massoud, 'Abd-ol-Hafiz Mansoûr, chiffre les pertes de l'ennemi en septembre 1980 à un demi-millier, en se basant sur les rapports clan-destins transmis aux résistants par leurs sympathisants dans les bureaux de l'état-major communiste afghan, à Kaboul /Behind the Russians, Massoud's men, menes par 'Abd-ol-Wasé', 'Abd-ol-'Azim, Dadollah et Sufi Mohammad Sa'id Khân, opened fire from the heights tors, on the garrison of Rokha, while the mines laid around Bâzârak cost the Soviets, forced withdrawing to save their fort at the mouth of the Val, around forty tanks and around thirty trucks, under a rain of shots and even avalanches of stones during the twenty-one days that this second offensive lasted. THE modjahedîn will admit twenty-five deaths in their ranks. But Massoud's secretary and chronicler, 'Abd-ol-Hafiz Mansoûr, figures the enemy's losses in September 1980 to half a thousand, based on clan reports-destinies transmitted to the resistance by their sympathizers in the offices of the Afghan communist general staff in Kabul.] (in French). L. Audibert. p. 183. ISBN 978-2-84749-002-2.
- ^ Galeotti, Mark (2021-10-28). The Panjshir Valley 1980–86: The Lion Tames the Bear in Afghanistan. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-4728-4467-5.
- ^ Galeotti, Mark (2021-10-28). The Panjshir Valley 1980–86: The Lion Tames the Bear in Afghanistan [Whatever the truth - which was somewhere in between in practice, the rebels won by not losing.]. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-4728-4467-5.
- ^ Goodson, Larry P. (2011-07-01). Afghanistan's Endless War: State Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban. University of Washington Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-295-80158-2.
- ^ Barry, Michael (2002). Massoud: de l'islamisme à la liberté [Après le retrait de la seconde offensive, Massoud se résolut à verrouiller le Val en capturant la forteresse de Rokha elle-même, dernière position tenue par le régime de Kaboul. La nouvelle artillerie lourde confisquée par les modjahedîn surplombait désormais le fort du haut des cimes, et y fit encore quatre cent vingt-sept morts avant les premiers frimas de l'hiver, selon un message secret envoyé à Massoud, le 7 novembre 1980, par un officier acquis à sa cause et qui se trouvait dans la place. Pas un jour, note Mansoûr dans ses carnets, sans que les mitrailleuses soviétiques Dashaka récupérées par les hommes de Massoud n'abattent un, deux, plusieurs sol- dats sur les murs ou dans l'enceinte de la garnison 2. Un renfort de camions gouvernementaux, précédés d'une cinquantaine de blindés soviétiques, gagnèrent la forteresse le lendemain 8 novembre. Les maquisards cachés incendièrent, au lance-roquettes, quatre camions à la traîne, puis encore deux blindés, treize camions. Le 14 novembre, des troupes à pied, russes et gouver- nementales, s'efforcèrent de grimper les pentes, afin de gagner les hauteurs et briser le siège de Rokha. 'Abd-ol- Wasé tomba dans l'échange de tirs, tandis que la chasse soviétique bombardait à l'aveugle les villages alentour. Cependant les mitrailleuses de Massoud, sur les crêtes, continuaient à cracher sur le fort et à tenir les pentes en respect. / After the withdrawal of the second offensive, Massoud resolved to block the Valley by capturing the fortress of Rokha itself, the last position held by the Kabul regime. The new heavy artillery confiscated by the modjahedîn now overlooked the fort from the top of the peaks, and caused another four hundred and twenty-seven deaths there before the first frosts of winter, according to a secret message sent to Massoud, on November 7, 1980, by an officer committed to his cause and who was in the place. Not a day, notes Mansoûr in his notebooks, without the Soviet Dashaka machine guns recovered by Massoud's men shooting down one, two, several soldiers on the walls or in the enclosure of garrison 2. A reinforcement of government trucks, preceded by around fifty Soviet armored vehicles, reached the fortress the next day, November 8. The hidden guerrillas set fire to four lagging trucks with rocket launchers, then two more armored vehicles and thirteen trucks. On November 14, Russian and government troops on foot attempted to climb the slopes in order to reach the heights and break the siege of Rokha. 'Abd-ol-Wase fell in the exchange of fire, while the Soviet fighter bombed the surrounding villages indiscriminately. However, Massoud's machine guns, on the crests, continued to fire on the fort and keep the slopes at bay.] (in French). L. Audibert. pp. 183, 184. ISBN 978-2-84749-002-2.